AUBTN -Chapter 47 Returning to the Capital to Defend the Throne

“Shen Jue, don’t you dare die!” Su Hewan caught him from behind. The moment her hand touched him, she felt that his clothes were already soaked through with blood—cold and frighteningly wet.

“Don’t worry…” Shen Jue’s face was deathly pale, yet that signature mocking smile still hung at the corner of his lips.

“Before I see Prince Ning’s head fall… this Director isn’t willing to die.”

【Is this man made of iron or something?】

After running for who knew how long, a faint glimmer of light finally appeared ahead.

When the four of them staggered out of the secret tunnel and into a desolate forest on the outskirts of the capital, the eastern sky was already turning pale with dawn.

The morning breeze was cool, carrying the dampness of dew—but also the scent of freedom.

“We made it out… we actually made it out alive!” Yu Qing collapsed onto the grass with a thud, panting heavily without a shred of composure.

Lu Yan swayed as well, dropping to one knee. He had to brace himself with his sword to keep from collapsing.

He turned to look at Shen Jue, his gaze complicated.

Leaning against a tree, Shen Jue’s face was pale as paper. One hand inside his robe was still clutching the brocade box tightly.

That box contained the truth they had exchanged their lives for—the justice owed to the three hundred wronged souls of the Shen family.

“Lu Yan,” Shen Jue said slowly, his voice hoarse.

“I’ll remember this debt. I owe you my life.”

“No need to repay it.” Lu Yan spat out a mouthful of blood and looked up at the rising sun.

“Save your life for cleaning up the court.”

Yet strangely enough, no sounds of pursuers came from the tunnel behind them.

The forest was eerily silent.

“Something’s not right.” Su Hewan frowned sharply.

“Given Prince Ning’s personality, once he’s torn off the mask, he’d never let us go so easily. Why isn’t anyone chasing us?”

“Yeah, that’s way too strange.” Yu Qing got up as well, brushing the dirt off her backside.

“Did he suddenly grow a conscience? Or was that Zhao Cong guy just too fierce?”

Lu Yan’s brows knitted together. Struggling to his feet, he looked toward the direction of the ancestral temple in the distance—then farther, toward the capital.

Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound cut through the sky.

Everyone looked up at once.

A signal arrow streaked upward, trailing a long plume of red smoke before bursting high in the air into a dazzling blood-red flare.

It was the signal for troop assembly.

And the horn of a full-scale attack.

“That’s… Prince Ning’s Cloud-Piercing Arrow!” Lu Yan’s pupils shrank violently.

Just as everyone stood frozen in shock, Su Hewan—standing on slightly higher ground—suddenly pointed toward the capital. Her voice trembled.

“Look… what is that?”

Following the direction of her finger, they saw that deep within the layers of palace buildings, a thick column of black smoke shot straight into the sky. Moments later, crimson flames lit up half the horizon, even overwhelming the light of the rising sun.

That was the direction of the imperial palace.

“He’s gone mad…” Shen Jue stared at the raging fire filling the sky. The flames reflected in his eyes as his voice turned ice-cold.

“He didn’t chase us because, in his eyes, we’re already dead.”

Prince Ning didn’t care whether the imperial edict would be made public or not.

Because he no longer intended to wait.

Rather than exhausting himself trying to seize back that edict…

He would simply destroy the imperial authority that the edict existed to protect.

“He’s forcing the palace.” Lu Yan’s grip on his sword tightened until his knuckles turned white.

“He’s going to storm the imperial palace and crown himself emperor!”

Yu Qing stared at the blazing fire, her mouth hanging open as a chill shot from the soles of her feet straight to her scalp.

【Holy hell… is this the resolve of a final villain? Flipping the whole table and refusing to play anymore?】

“This time… we’re really in big trouble.” Su Hewan took a deep breath and turned to look at the two blood-soaked men.

At this moment, although they had escaped with their lives, it felt as if they had fallen into an even deeper hell.

Shen Jue slowly straightened up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

“So what if he’s forcing the palace?” he sneered, pulling out the blood-stained imperial edict and unfolding it in the morning wind.

“Lu Yan, can your Jinyiwei still fight?”

Lu Yan stood upright like an unbreakable spear, battle intent blazing in his eyes.

“As long as I still have one breath left, the Jinyiwei will swear to defend the imperial city to the death.”

“Good.”

Shen Jue tucked the edict back into his robe. His gaze drifted toward the sea of flames in the distance, his voice low and resolute.

“Then let’s go back and finish this final performance for that so-called Regent Prince.”

Four fast horses galloped along the official road.

“The capital garrison camp is just ahead!”

Zhao Cong shouted sharply, lashing the horse’s flank with his whip.

Lu Yan leaned low over the horse’s back, his face deathly pale, one hand clutching the reins tightly.

“Important military ground! Who goes there?!”

Before they could even approach the camp gate, rows of cold gleaming arrows were already aimed straight at them.

“Lu Yan, Commander of the Jinyiwei! By the late emperor’s imperial edict, I order the Three Great Camps to mobilize immediately to defend the throne!”

Lu Yan reined in his horse, raising high the waist token that represented the highest authority of the Jinyiwei.

After a long moment, a middle-aged general in heavy armor slowly leaned forward.

He was the commander of the capital garrison—Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao looked down at the four of them in their miserable state. His gaze swept across Lu Yan’s blood-stained Flying Fish uniform and Shen Jue’s sinister face, a meaningful smile curling on his lips.

“So it’s Lord Lu and Director Shen.”

Wei Zhao’s voice was unhurried.

“At a time like this, instead of enjoying yourselves in the capital, why have the two of you come all the way out to this desolate wilderness? And even brought along two… poorly dressed palace maids?”

“Wei Zhao! Are you blind?!”

Zhao Cong roared in fury.

“The capital is ablaze! Prince Ning is committing treason and rebellion, yet you, the capital’s defender, dare to sit idle?”

“You can eat recklessly, but you can’t speak recklessly,” Wei Zhao replied lazily, slowly stroking the hilt of the sword at his waist.

“Treason isn’t something you can just accuse people of!”

“As for this imperial edict… the late emperor has been dead for years. Now Lord Lu suddenly produces an edict—how do I know whether it’s real or fake? If it’s a forged decree and I mobilize the troops, wouldn’t I become a traitor instead?”

“You—!” Zhao Cong was so furious he nearly drew his blade.

Shen Jue sneered and urged his horse one step forward.

“Wei Zhao, I think it’s not that you fear a forged edict—it’s that you’re afraid of choosing the wrong side.”

His voice was icy.

“What benefits did Prince Ning promise you? A marquisate? A position as grand chancellor? Or carving out land to become a king yourself? Did you even think about it? If Prince Ning really ascends the throne, the first person he’ll kill is a fence-sitting coward like you!”

Wei Zhao’s face changed slightly, a flash of killing intent passing through his eyes.

“Director Shen, that accusation is far too heavy. I can’t bear such a hat. The situation is unclear right now. As part of my duty, I must strictly guard the camp. Without an official order from the Ministry of War, no one can mobilize even a single soldier!”

“Archers, ready! If they dare force their way in—kill them without mercy!”

With Wei Zhao’s command, the bowstrings at the camp gate were drawn tight, and the atmosphere instantly became tense to the extreme.

Lu Yan’s hand gripping his saber trembled slightly as waves of dizziness from blood loss washed over him.

Prince Ning truly had reach everywhere.

He had already bought off the key generals. Even if he hadn’t turned all of them to his side, making them hesitate, observe, and delay was enough for Prince Ning to seize the imperial palace.